ABSTRACT
Objectives
This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and associated factors of inter-arm blood pressure difference (IAD) in Chinese community hypertensive population.
Methods
The cross-sectional study included 7788 hypertensive patients (3673 male and 4115 female, aged 62.3 ± 13.6 years) in Guangdong, China. IAD was defined as the absolute value of blood pressure (BP) difference between left and right arms. Bilateral BP was measured simultaneously by automated devices.
Results
The mean IAD was 4.04 ± 4.33 mm Hg in systolic and 3.19 ± 3.43 mm Hg in diastolic. The prevalence rates of systolic IAD (sIAD)≥5 mm Hg and ≥10 mmHg were 28.9% (n = 2247) and 12.8% (n = 996), respectively. By univariate linear regression, higher sIAD correlated with aging, higher SBP, higher DBP, lower baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and anti-hypertensive medication (p < 0.05). In multivariate linear regression analysis, higher sIAD was significantly associated with systolic BP (SBP, β = 0.033; 95%CI, 0.025–0.041; p < 0.001), triacylglycerol (β = 0.093; 95%CI, 0.017–0.169; p = 0.016), total cholesterol (β = −0.202; 95%CI, −0.396to −0.009; p = 0.04), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C; β = 0.304; 95%CI, 0.027–0.582; p = 0.032).
Conclusion
The elevated prevalence of large IAD was shown in hypertensive population. Meanwhile, higher levels of SBP, triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, LDL-C, and lower eGFR were associated with higher sIAD.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank all the participants and medical staff who contributed to this study.
Declaration of financial/other relationships
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.